Charlie Sheen #winning again as FX picks up new sitcom

Troubled star thrown a lifeline with TV show based on Jack Nicholson's movie Anger Management

WHAT DO you have to do to be blacklisted in Hollywood nowadays? After what most people assumed was a career-ending meltdown, Charlie Sheen has just sealed a 100-episode deal with Newscorp TV channel FX for his new sitcom Anger Management.

The series is based on the 2003 film of the same name, which starred Adam Sandler as a businessman sentenced by a court to undergo an anger management programme run by Jack Nicholson, who plays an angry therapist. Sheen will take the Nicholson role.

The Hollywood Reporter says FX has asked for 10 episodes and will take 90 more if the first series gets a good reception. It is due to air in summer 2012.

The news has astonished many in the industry. When Sheen was fired by Warner Bros from his hit sitcom Two and a Half Men in March this year, he 'celebrated' by climbing onto the roof of an office block in Beverly Hills while waving a machete.

He then began an internet TV series and went on a live tour, called My Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat is Not An Option, during which his shambolic performances were cited as further evidence that his career was probably over. Despite evidence to the contrary, Sheen's antics frequently resulted in his being associated with the hashtag #winning on Twitter.

Time columnist James Poniewozik is one of many on the social media site sceptical of the FX deal. He recommended that FX should tape all 100 episodes in one week "just to be safe".

But The Hollywood Reporter's own TV critic Tim Goodman evidently feels FX will soon be '#winning': "Don't know what all the fuss is about... If I'm FX, I make that deal in a heartbeat. Smart move."